Distinct gating modes determine the biphasic relaxation of NMDA receptor currents.
Following brief stimulation, macroscopic NMDA receptor currents decay with biphasic kinetics that is believed to reflect glutamate dissociation and receptor desensitization. We found that the fast and slow decay components arise from the simultaneous deactivation of receptor populations that gate with short and long openings, respectively. Because individual receptors switched infrequently between gating modes, the relaxation time course was largely determined by the proportion of channels in each gating mode at the time of stimulation.
Zhang
Wei
W
Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, USA.
Howe
James R
JR
Popescu
Gabriela K
GK
D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000166:cytology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D005998:Glycine / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D008954:Models, Biological; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods
D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D005998:Glycine